Igor Kazikov highly assessed South Korea’s readiness for the Games

Deputy CEO of the Russian Olympic Committee Igor Kazikov (R)

SEOUL, January 28. /TASS/. Igor Kazikov, a deputy director general of Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC), on Sunday took part in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Torch Relay. He ran on the territory of the Naksansa Buddhist temple complex in Yangyang, South Korea’s Gangwon Province.

"Today’s event caused big interest among the locals. All wanted to take pictures and hailed my appearance. Russia was represented by only two torchbearers: Anita Tsoi (a Russian pop singer of Korean origin - TASS) was here about a month ago. I was granted this right too," Kazikov told TASS, adding that this had been his third Olympic torch relay, after the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Games.

He highly assessed South Korea’s readiness for the Games. "All the facilities are ready, the Olympic Village is gorgeous. I think our athletes will like it," he said.

The upcoming 23rd Olympic Winter Games will take place in South Korea’s PyeongChang on February 9-25, 2018.

The Olympic Torch Relay kicked off under the slogan Let Everyone Shine on November 1, 2017. As many as 7,500 torchbearers will run across entire South Korea, covering an overall distance of 2,018 kilometers.